Should zoos be abolished ?

Essay

Should zoos be abolished?

As you know it, a zoo is an establishment which maintains a collection of wild animals, typically in parks or closed spaces. I believe the main criteria that distinguishes if zoos should be abolished or not is the aim of the zoo. I think that zoos built to entertain people should be abolished, because it shows cruelty against the animals. On the contrary, zoos aiming to save endangered wild species should be conserved in certain conditions.

First of all, I believe entertaining zoos should be abolished because of the conditions and climatical changes animals suffer of. Zoos animals have to spend the rest of their lives in small enclosure, while they could be in the huge lands of their natural habitat. Many of the species are taken away from their original habitat, and so are forced to live in a whole new and unknown climate (for example, a polar bear should not be imprisoned in Dubai). Furthermore, imprisonment changes animals’ behaviour, leading to violent conducts between animals, conducting to species death.

Moreover, it has been shown that animals received cruel treatments for an entertaining purpose. Workers can show negligence towards animals: The World Society for the Protection of Animals has proven that in a lot of zoos, animals were starving and did not have enough water. Furthermore, animals also died from eating what people had thrown to them (like ice cream or sweets). Zoo workers also force zoo animals to entertain people. For example, in the aquatic themes shows where workers learn dolphins or killer whales some tricks in exchange of knocking if they do not execute.

However, I believe zoos aiming to preserve species such as sanctuaries located in animals’ natural habitat should be maintained (like in South Africa for example). Indeed, these structures permits species to be in their own climate, and it protects endangered species from hunting. Likewise, these sanctuaries often propose safaris, which is obviously expensive but an ethical way to meet the wildlife.

To conclude, even if zoos can be seen as a fun way of distraction, the pain against animals stays unseen. These establishment are both unsafe for animals and humans, and the justification of education or entertainment should not be valid. Even though some people say zoo animals live longer, they live an unhappy, and sometimes, lonely life.

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